N.H. Delegation Works to Save Shipyard
By Dennis Mayer
WASHINGTON – With sweeping military base closings scheduled for review in 2005, New Hampshire and Maine’s congressional delegations are taking steps to protect Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
The base closure program, called the Base Realignment and Closure process, is designed to save money by closing bases the Defense Department determines are no longer necessary. While base closings can be expensive, the process eventually trims a significant portion of the defense budget.
The Pentagon has not released a “target” number of bases to close or dollars to save in this round of closures, but a report released in March estimated that overall, U.S. military bases have 24 percent more capacity than needed.
The New Hampshire and Maine congressional delegations want to ensure that Portsmouth’s shipyard is not among that excess.
The delegations have taken special care to create a “unified front” as they fight for the base, which employs 4,300 civilians, so that the Navy realizes that support from the base stretches across both state and party lines, Margo Shideler, press secretary for Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.), said
Erin Rath, communications director for Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), said in an email that the effort to lobby the Pentagon was “an ongoing effort and one that the members are devoting a lot of time to.”
Sen. Gregg said in a statement, “I continue to actively work with my Senate and House colleagues from New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts in a united effort to demonstrate to officials at the Pentagon that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is invaluable to our military infrastructure, and critical to our national defense.”
“I believe these efforts are well received by the Pentagon,” Gregg said.
In large part, the congressmen have focused on lobbying the Department of Defense to consider the shipyard favorably. The New Hampshire and Maine delegations toured the facility in August with Secretary of the Navy Gordon England, meet regularly with shipyard advocates in Portsmouth, and have written several letters to the Department of Defense on the shipyard’s behalf.
The delegations outlined several areas in which the shipyard adds significantly to the nation’s defense efforts in an April letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Defense Undersecretary Michael Wynne. These areas included the shipyard’s expertise in submarine maintenance, certification in nuclear repair, performance record, adaptability and willingness to create partnerships with private and public entities. Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. John F. Tierney also signed the letter. (The delegations published an op-ed piece outlining these same points on March 22, 2004 in the Portsmouth Herald.)
Another letter from the two delegations, sent on Sept. 13 to assistant Navy Secretary Wayne Arney, outlined concerns the delegations had with the base closing process, urging him to consider the base’s potential. They argued that the base’s current output is dictated by its current mission, and does not reflect its full potential. They also urged evaluators to consider the quality of the work performed at the base and the base’s ability to work “within budget and schedule restraints.”
Shideler, Rep. Bass’s press secretary, said the Navy had not yet given Bass or the other members of his delegation an idea of how it was leaning in the decision process.
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard primarily overhauls Los Angeles class nuclear submarines, according to a fact sheet provided by the shipyard,. Portsmouth has been open since 1800, making it the oldest such facility in the nation, and is one of four remaining naval shipyards in the nation. Along with the 4,300 civilians, it employs 125 naval officers and enlisted personnel, and serves as the home base for three Coast Guard cutters.
Rumsfeld’s recommendations for base closures are due to the base closing commission by May 16, 2005. That group will report on those recommendations to the president by Sept. 8, 2005. The president will then have until Sept. 23, 2005 to accept or reject them. If he signs off, Congress will have 45 days to reject them or they will be finalized.
Debbie White, a spokeswoman for the shipyard, declined to speculate on the shipyard’s future.
